Day 9 Review

Day 9 was kind of a let down. Halep vs Stephens promised so much but the match didn't really deliver. It was a lacklustre match, especially at the end. Even the crowd seemed unexcited, you could hear a pin drop after numerous points even towards the end of the match. Halep was just too solid for Stephens who was slightly off, which was a shame because there was evidence that she could have really troubled the Romanian.

The highlight of the day for me was the first set between Sara Errani and Jelana Jankovic. A drama filled set that lasted for 81 minutes, Jankovic twice serving for the set and blowing a set point. Errani raised her game to an amazing level towards the end of the set, Jankovic just couldn't hit past the Italian. Jankovic had to come up with something spectacular to get past Errani and she did on a number of occasions but it was not enough. Errani seemed to have a commanding lead in the tiebreak when she was up 5-2 but Jankovic came back to level at 5-5. Jankovic played two disappointing points here, succumbing to the pressure of the Italian.

In the second set Jankovic came out looking very frustrated and impatient. She had seemingly given up on the match after the disappointment of losing such a close opening set. Errani easily took the second set 6-2. The ongoing battle between Jelana's vocal support crew and the rest of the crowd was also quite amusing.

What's also interesting is that in Errani's press conference she said she didn't believe anything was wrong with Jelana when she took her medical timeout. Errani did seem to be rather annoyed by the situation at the time.

The petkovic/Bertens match certainly wasn't played at the highest level but with so much on the line the last set was intriguing. Bertens closed to within one game of the quarterfinals and it seemed that the pressure would be too much for Petkovic. The German remained calm and actually raised her level in the last few games.

Kuznetsova continues to impress. Another solid victory over a dangerous opponent. Kuznetsova seemed to always be in control of the match, Safarova did fight back late in the second set but it was all too late.